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Larry Bird on the BS report 2/2012

Calls Rubio the best passer he has ever seen so maybe I am not crazy when I called him that watching him in Europe and in the NBA in terms of best passing prospect I have ever seen. Talks about how AAU is hurting the overall NBA game and team basketball that the Cs basketball is almost non existent now a days now there is way to much ISO. Which has been my main gripes with AAU really teaches kids bad habits. Thinks Rubio and Love can bring back some of the selflessness and passing that the league needs. Talks about the 80s Cs and a few other notes. Worth the listen. Says Kobe wants to win like he did and other guys of his era that is why Kobe is his favorite. But thinks Lebron would be the best fit for the 8os Cs team.

Talks about the Pacers at the end. Says the Pacers likely wont spend over 65 million on pay roll. He says if we get a bad contract they have to play because we are a small market. Also talks about how the players are growing says if we add a guy he has to fit a certain mold like the rest of the guys.

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Re: Larry Bird on the BS report 2/2012

Jason Williams could pass in circles around Rubio. Williams might have ultimately under-achieved in his career and had a lot of holes in his game, but his passing and ball-handling skills were absolutely ridiculous. I can honestly say he pulled off the most amazing passes I've ever seen.

Re: Larry Bird on the BS report 2/2012

Then re-write your first sentence, because it certainly sounds like you saw him way early in his career and called him the best passer ever and everyone called ya crazy for that.
Btw, he's not the best passer ever, even best prospect... yet. He could be, but he's got a lot to prove in that area. He's got the ability to do so.

Re: Larry Bird on the BS report 2/2012

Then re-write your first sentence, because it certainly sounds like you saw him way early in his career and called him the best passer ever and everyone called ya crazy for that.

Btw, he's not the best passer ever, even best prospect... yet. He could be, but he's got a lot to prove in that area. He's got the ability to do so.

I didnt see him at 14-16 like most scouts did. You claimed that I claimed I am the first guy to say that which I clearly did not. I saw him when he started for Madrid yes people did think it was crazy and that Rubio was overrated. But I am young I haven't seen many players like a guy like Larry has. I am actually surprised Larry said that since Larry played with great pgs and versus them in his day. I would of though Larry would of said Stockton or Nash or Jkidd as the best he has seen.

He is the best pure pg pg prospect I have ever seen. Your opinion is your opinion mine is mine. Prospect means unproven pre draft early / early on in NBA career. I stand by him being the best pure pg guard floor general with vision prospect that I have ever seen in a prospect.

But then again I haven't seen very many good true pgs while scouting college and Europe the pure pg now a days seems to be dead. The new thing is the scoring guard Rose, Westbrook, Wall ect.

Re: Larry Bird on the BS report 2/2012

I didnt see him at 14-16 like most scouts did. You claimed that I claimed I am the first guy to say that which I clearly did not. I saw him when he started for Madrid yes people did think it was crazy and that Rubio was overrated. But I am young I haven't seen many players like a guy like Larry has. I am actually surprised Larry said that since Larry played with great pgs and versus them in his day. I would of though Larry would of said Stockton or Nash as the best he has seen.

He is the best pure pg pg prospect I have ever seen. Your opinion is your opinion mine is mine. Prospect means unproven pre draft early / early on in NBA career. I stand by him being the best pure pg guard floor general with vision prospect that I have ever seen in a prospect.

But then again I haven't seen very many good true pgs while scouting college and Europe the pure pg now a days seems to be dead. The new thing is the scoring guard Rose, Westbrook, Wall ect.

to be far you're 19 so "best pure pg prospect i have ever seen" misses about 50 years of basketball.

Re: Larry Bird on the BS report 2/2012

to be far you're 19 so "best pure pg prospect i have ever seen" misses about 50 years of basketball.

exactly I have barley seen anyone compared to most people. The best I have seen is Jason Kidd but that was in his prime. But I never watched Kidd as a prospect so I cant include him in the group as best prospect. Chris Paul and Rondo have been the only pure pgs I have seen as a prospect and I grade Rubio as a prospect better. I doubt Rubio ever becomes as good as CP3 as a player. CP3 is an amazing defender on top of being one of the best floor generals. But as a prospect I liked Rubio more than I did CP3.

Re: Larry Bird on the BS report 2/2012

I just wish that there was more about adding to this team. I'm hungry for some info around who we may be targeting.

Unfortunately if the Pacers cap on payroll is 65 million, they can't be targeting much of anybody that will help long-term. Just re-signing Hibbert and Hill will likely have the payroll at 53-55 million with the Pacers still having to find a backup big and some roster filler. There probably is room to find one more good player for a bargain (like West on the absolute high end and Crawford almost was) but that's about it. That assumes they don't blow up their core for a star which would change the salary dynamic dramatically.

It does mean the Pacers should try to protect their picks if possible because they need that cheap talent to keep their payroll from skyrocketing when all these extensions come up. The Pacers have built up enough talent and have enough flexibility that they could easily be a luxury tax team if they wanted to, but it doesn't appear like they do.

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Re: Larry Bird on the BS report 2/2012

I'm not a huge fan of Bill Simmons, but this interview is great. It's all meat, no style. Larry did almost all of the talking and had some real good tidbits.

Bill did a great job, and I think Larry responded well because Bill's a genuine fan of the game that happened to be there for all of those great Celtic moments. My only complaint was that it didn't last 5 hours.